It must be tested by the
best judges. The vessel was sent to Dover to be tried with the
best packets between Dover and Calais. Mr. Lloyd, the chief
engineer of the Navy, conducted the investigation, and reported
most favourably as to the manner of her performance. Yet several
years elapsed before the screw was introduced into the service.
In 1840 the Archimedes was placed at the disposal of Captain
Chappell, of the Royal Navy, who, accompanied by Mr. Smith,
visited every principal port in Great Britain. She was thus seen
by shipowners, marine engineers, and shipbuilders in every part
of the kingdom. They regarded her with wonder and admiration;
yet the new mode of navigation was not speedily adopted. The
paddle-wheel still held its own. The sentiment, if not the plant
and capital, of the engineering world, were against the
introduction of the screw. After the vessel had returned from
her circumnavigation of Great Britain, she was sent to Oporto,
and performed the voyage in sixty-eight and a half hours, then
held to be the quickest voyage on record. She was then sent to
the Texel at the request of the Dutch Government. She went
through the North Holland Canal, visited Amsterdam, Antwerp, and
other ports; and everywhere left the impression that the screw
was an efficient and reliable power in the propulsion of vessels
at sea.
Shipbuilders, however, continued to "fight shy" of the screw.
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